Christoph of Schleswig-Holstein


Christoph of Schleswig-Holstein was the head of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg and, by agnatic primogeniture, of the entire House of Oldenburg between 1980 and 2023. Traditionally he would have been the eighth Duke of Schleswig-Holstein and Duke of Glücksburg, styled as His Highness. He was a male-line descendant of Christian I of Denmark, and was also descended cognatically from numerous more recent monarchs, including Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, Emperor Alexander II of Russia and several more recent Danish kings. His paternal grandmother was Princess Marie Melita of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, a great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria.

House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg

The House of Oldenburg — in one of its cadet branches — is patrilineally the royal house of Norway and the United Kingdom, and has been the reigning dynasty of several other countries including Denmark, Greece, Sweden and Russia. As such, Christoph was the agnatic head of the family that today includes Harald V of Norway and, patrilineally, Charles III of the United Kingdom. His great-great-grandfather, Friedrich, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, was the older brother of Christian IX of Denmark, and through him Christoph is heir by male primogeniture to the Danish title Duke of Glücksburg conferred by the Danish crown in 1825. Christoph was also, cognatically, a descendant of Queen Victoria and Alexander II of Russia.

Life and activities

Christoph was born in Louisenlund Castle in Güby, near Eckernförde, Schleswig-Holstein, West Germany, the eldest son of Peter, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein, and his wife, Princess Marie Alix of Schaumburg-Lippe. He had a diploma in Agricultural Engineering. Christoph served as a Reservist in the German Army for two years, holding the rank of lieutenant.
Christoph succeeded to the headship of the ducal house on 30 September 1980 following the death of his father. While possession of the united duchies of Schleswig and Holstein had been allocated by a series of wars and treaties since the First Schleswig War of 1848 and the London Protocol of 1852, the ducal title was borne by Christoph's father and paternal grandfather. However, Christoph was known also by the title which is shared by male cadets of the dynasty, "Prinz zu ''Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg".
From 1980 onward, Christoph chaired the board of the family foundation that owns the ancestral castle, Glücksburg Castle. He was a founding member of the GLC Glücksburg Consulting Group and served as chairman of its advisory board. He resided in Grünholz near Schwansen, where he had business interests in agriculture, forestry and real estate. He was the owner of the Grünholz and Bienebek estates and was one of the largest landowners of Schleswig-Holstein. His sister, Princess Ingeborg, chairs the board of a further family foundation, the Stiftung Louisenlund''.

Marriage and issue

Christoph married Princess Elisabeth of Lippe-Weissenfeld, younger daughter of Prince Alfred Karl Friedrich Georg Franz of Lippe-Weissenfeld and Baroness Irmgard Julinka Wagner von Wehrborn, at Glücksburg civilly on 23 September 1981 and religiously on 3 October.
They had four children:

Death

Christoph died on 27 September 2023, at the age of 74, after a long-term illness. He was succeeded as head of the House of Oldenburg by his eldest son,.